Prior to officially starting its services, UCC Auction, which has been introduced as an alpha version, protects copyright by applying DRM. It also is a UCC marketplace in which transactions are made through the auction and Dutch auction. Users can register UCC filmed by their mobile phones, can purchase and search for items through mobile phones and can download purchased contents through e-mails.
UCC Auction which is differentiated from existing video sites which are in trouble due to copyright controversies and diminishing profitability has applied a system of registration and patent-based auction, sale and resale. It is also the world's first UCC business based on protection of copyright holders by applying DRM for all the content.
The new service induces distribution of pure creative works by offering positive revenue models beyond simply becoming targets of pleasure after dividing the UCC videos of various themes and forms into specified categories so that people can buy and sell them. In the UCC Auction site, people register professional knowledge which they are well versed in when they become its members. When consumers register the site, it immediately reacts to purchases through sending e-mails and SMS to the members who have registered their professional sectors and tries to generate profits by coping with selling after making the UCC.
The sellers can put their videos onto UCC Auction either free of charge or with charge. In cases of paid videos, in particular, content made to give information on accidents will occupy the biggest portion and they are expected to be used or sold to media outlets or broadcasters.
Sellers of UCC videos can use various convenient functions including book markers, captions and previews through editing tools which everybody who registers can easily use. My UCC allows users to confirm individual videos which have been purchased or whose auction is under way. The new service also provides mobile phone holders producing media about their daily lives an opportunity to raise additional profit as a oneman business because they can continuously get profits gained from sale or advertisements through their bank accounts without concerns on piracy or copyright violation for five decades. Under the nation's existing law, copyright is protected for 50 years but the period is expected to extend to 70 years according to the ROK-US free trade agreement (FTA).
CEO Ha stated: "The UCC industry has been faced with catastrophe as the nation's three major broadcasters and their three affiliates have filed a lawsuit against online UCC companies which violated copyright, and warning them. Moreover, with the conclusion of the FTA with the United States, pressure on copyright protection has been increasingly strengthened. UCC Auction will play a significant role in a government project to support one-man UCC business starters by protecting interests of copyright holders, fostering original and creative UCC, not copied ones, focusing on facilitating the industries and providing transparent distribution routes of pure creative works.
"During the recent Virginia Tech massacre, videos filmed by a college student reporter were conveyed to the media and then to the entire world. As shown through this incident, ordinary people can register UCC videos shot by mobile phones immediately onto UCC Auction to promote UCC ubiquity and mobility. Furthermore, we are closely pushing ahead with strategic partnership with related companies with the goal of becoming a global media 2.0 company on an exclusive basis in connection with the future UCC business by completing an international PCT patent application, and obtaining a domestic patent."
UCC Auction is scheduled to start its official services after providing a three-month trial service.
